Bare Minimum Parenting: The Ultimate Guide to Not Quite Ruining Your Child by James Breakwell

Overachieving parents want you to believe that the harder you work, the better your child will turn out. In Bare Minimum Parenting: The Ultimate Guide to Not Quite Ruining Your Child, web-famous comedy writer and dad of four James Breakwell exposes that myth, arguing that most kids end up remarkably unremarkable no matter how much effort you pour into them. Rather than exhausting yourself trying to build the perfect, high-achieving prodigy, Breakwell advocates for strategic laziness—doing just enough to raise a functional, self-sufficient adult while saving precious time and sanity for yourself.

Packed with irreverent humor and sharp observational wit, this slacker’s guide walks parents through overcoming pressure from overzealous peer groups, hyper-competitive modern expectations, and the crippling guilt of not doing enough. Instead of preaching perfection, Breakwell celebrates mediocrity and delivers a hilarious manifesto for parents who want to lower the bar, enjoy their free time, and raise decent human beings without losing their minds in the process.